Seiza

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Seiza (?? or ??, literally "sitting decent") is a Japanese term for one of the traditional formal ways of sitting in Japan.

Video Seiza

Form

To sit seiza -style, one must first kneel on the floor, fold one's leg under one's thigh, while putting the butt on the heel. The ankle turns out when the top of the foot is lowered so that, in the form of a little "V", the top of the flat foot on the floor and the big toes overlap, the right is always above the left, and the butt is finally lowered down. Depending on the circumstances, the hands are folded simply in the lap, or placed palms on the upper thigh with the fingers close together, or placed on the floor beside the hips, with knuckles round and touching the floor. The back remains straight, though not naturally rigid. Traditionally, women sit with knees together while men separate them slightly. Some martial arts, especially kend ?, aikid ?, and diaid ?, can prescribe up to two fist widths the distance between knees for men.

Stepping in and out of seiza is done consciously. There is a traditional method that is codified to enter and exit from a sitting position depending on the occasion and type of clothing worn.

Maps Seiza

History

Through the early history of Japan, various ways of sitting are regarded as 'proper', such as sitting cross-legged, sitting with one knee raised, or sitting beside. The social conditions of people, the style of clothing, and the place where they sit naturally bring their manners to sit. The development, in the Muromachi period, of Japanese architecture where floors are completely covered with tatami (thick straw mats), combined with the strict formalities of the ruling warrior class that this architectural style is primarily designed, heralded adoption of a sitting posture known today as seiza as a respectful way to sit. However, it may not be until about the years around the turn of the 18th century (Genroku to Ky? H? Eras in Japanese history) that the Japanese generally adopt this way of sitting in their daily lives.

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Floor

Seiza involves sitting on the floor and not in a chair. In traditional Japanese architecture, floors in various rooms designed for comfort have tatami flooring. Seiza is thus closely tied to the floor tatami . But there are circumstances when people sit seiza - style on carpeted floors and hardwoods. In many martial arts, for example, this sitting position generally occurs on hardwood floors. Depending on the event's formalities, settings, and relative status of the person, it is sometimes acceptable to sit on a special pillow called a zabuton (???, literally "futon mattress").

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Difficulty

Sometimes feces are reserved for the elderly or the injured person even when others are expected to sit seiza -style. Recommended, especially in formal situations, at least try to sit seiza -style. Non-Japanese immature sitting in this posture may, however, have difficulty with that assumption altogether. Those unfamiliar with seiza will likely find that keeping it for more than a minute or two tends to cause a loss of circulation, with the feeling of the 'pins and needles' that accompany it, followed by a painful burning sensation, and then finally completely numb in the legs. However, physical discomfort decreases with experience when blood circulation increases. Experienced practitioners seiza can maintain postures for forty minutes or more with minimal discomfort. Certain knee problems get worse when taking this position, especially Osgood-Schlatter's disease.

Special seiza seats are available in Japan. They fold the stool, small enough to carry in a handbag, which is placed between the legs and where someone puts the ass while seiza-style seats. They allow one to keep the seizure seated while quietly taking pressure from the heel and legs.

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Use in traditional art

Doing seiza is an integral and necessary part of some traditional Japanese arts, such as Japanese martial arts and certain tea ceremonies (a tea-style tea-table version known as ry? Rei > Invented in the 19th century). Seiza is also a traditional way to sit while performing other arts such as shodo (calligraphy) and ikebana (flower arranging), although with the increasing use of western style furniture is not always necessary today.

Many theaters for traditional performing arts such as kabuki and sumo still have audience seats where the audience sits in seiza style.

Shikk?

Walking on your legs and knees while in a seiza posture, known as shikk? ( ?? , knee motion) , is considered more polite than standing and walking regularly. Shikk? is currently quite rare, but found in some formal restaurants and traditional ryokan, and is practiced in martial arts aikid ?, where practitioners learn to defend themselves while moving in shikk ?.

To perform this knee motion, the heel must remain close, and the body must move as a whole. Is it because of the shikk movement? forcing a person to engage the hip in a way that is considered valuable for aikid? exercise.

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Alternative sitting position

Agura

Sitting cross-legged, agura , is considered unofficial: suitable for certain situations but not for others. This is common in informal situations, such as eating at a low table in a regular restaurant, and being allowed in formal situations especially for those who find it difficult, like the elderly or non-Japanese.

Yokozuwari

Sitting cross-legged is generally considered impolite for women, and informal sitting women have both legs to one side, with one side of the hip on the floor, called yokozuwari (???, literally "sideways) sitting").

Wariza

Another informal sitting attitude for women is called wariza (literally "sitting separately or separately") resembling seiza, but the lower leg is bent to the side of each.

Kiza

To sit on seiza requires coming to the kneeling position for a moment, with the heel propped; if a person remains sitting on the heels with the ball of the foot touching the floor and the toes bent forward, it is called kiza ( ??/?? ) . If one then lowers the top of the foot to the floor, one will then be in the seiza position. In some schools from diaido, the practitioner stood up to draw the sword and cut off after a moment assuming kiza , so as not to sprain the back of the foot that jumps directly from seiza .

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See also

• Genuflection
• Kneel
• Kowtow
• Vajrasana (yoga)

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References

Source of the article : Wikipedia